Use specific scenarios students experience on a day-to-day basis in an office setting. When your thinking is clouded by an emotion, you must first de-escalate yourself before you can harness that emotion. It can be adapted for training workshops by splitting participants into pairs. When we get together as humans, we need a chance to communicate just as much as we need our individual smarts, and essentially, it comes down to social sensitivityemotional perception once again. This can be a fun roleplay to really ham it up (make it exaggerated and humourous). Very useful for my Communicare sessions. The talker discusses their dream vacation for three minutes, describing what they would like best about it but without specifying where it should be. Any other thoughts about this Active Listening game? The group is split into pairs. It only means keeping an open-mind and withholding judgement long enough to adequately understand the other persons perspective. Used with permission. Encourage people to reflect back what they are hearing and to focus on listening skills. Feel free to use the CCSG technique described earlier in this article, and that the speaker uses a reflective tone, rather than purely informative, when addressing the group. Walk me around that island. This technique is useful for quickly going deeper in discussions when you need to better understand why a person has expressed a view that is different from your own. So, you will need to enlist a volunteer. At the human level, our social resources play a massive part in our happiness and well-being in the workplace. Whiteboard, blackboard or butchers paper Discuss the difficulties of communicating with each other and discuss Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties. In EURAM Conference, Munich, Germany. Allow 10 minutes for participants to do the following within their groups. Benefits: Our messages need to make sense if we want to convey information in a meaningful way. What matters? What is the strangest dream you have ever had? Your email address will not be published. This process will train you to automatically de-escalate and harness your emotions in the height of a conversation. It can be on the pre-chosen topic or on a different one, but the activity must conclude with a debrief. Why not? How? Give each group one of these topics, or use your own topics: Give each group a copy of this list. Occasionally, a speaker will say how they feel. As humans, were complex. Ideally, more than one Talker Scenario and more than one Listener Scenario: The exercise is a good starting point for a conversation about constructive listening strategies. The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Active listening involves attentively seeking to understand a speaker's message, rather than passively hearing the words that a speaker says. Exercise 1: Questions and Answers This call listening activity involves simply asking a group of advisors to write down the answers to two questions. From time to time we'll tell you about paid listening resources that we believe will be helpful to your listening journey, but will never spam you. A time when I dealt with a difficult conflict well. But active listening encourages pleasant social interactions, which in turn, these boost our well-being and life satisfaction (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). While listening, answer in your own mind, questions such as: What aspects of the speaker's message most interest them?, What is the main theme(s) of their message?, What are the key takeaways from the speakers message?. Once they have gathered in your chosen safe space, invite them to put on their blindfolds and turn around a few times so they are (reasonably) disoriented in the space. The facilitator starts out by handing one of the items to the person on their right, saying Ellen, this is a tattered elephant with pink ears.. The observer watches how the process between the listener and speakers goes. Clarify when you catch yourself jumping to conclusions. Emotional intelligence. Listen With Empathy, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. How effective was this technique? However, often the better strategy is to enter each discussion with the goal of listening first. The goal is for the other person to be heard, validated, and inspired to solve their problems. To use the structure as an exercise, participants simply relate a narrative using CCSG. Storytelling is an engaging way to convey information; when its positive information, narratives are also highly effective means of motivating and inspiring others (Tomasulo & Pawelski, 2012). You can further enhance the impact of role-play in . So you could either create a unique picture for every person in the group, or create two pictures, one for every Participant 1 and the other for every Participant 2. What were some of the differences? Doctors described how important it was to see whether patients wanted to participate in choosing their treatment. Then give the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings. Breaking into pairs, group participants take turns asking Active Listening questions about a simple drawing that they cannot see in order to draw it as accurately as possible. Special thanks to C. B. Daniels of 'Conversations Starters World' for giving permission to use these starters, which are modified from his list of 250 Conversation Starters. What factors sometimes prevent us from asking questions when they might actually be useful? What is one practical action that you can take at the start of your next discussion in order to listen to them first and allow them to speak? What value do questioning skills have when were trying to understand others? There is no set time or place for storytelling, but it works best when a story is followed by an invitation to the group to give input. What is the most recent success youve had? Maguire, P., & Pitceathly, C. (2002). With a broad and beautiful rainbow of ways to communicate, then, how do we know whats considered a skill? This is called Active Listening. Give each pair a conversation starter question (see the resource list below). Find a place free of distractions and sit down with a notepad and pen. create an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners truly feel about the discussion topic. The goal is to collaborate and help each other, not to compete. Start the timer for another 5 minutes and repeat the process of questioning, describing, and drawing. In this game, one colleague has a full 60 seconds to rant about something which irks them. Take a list of conversation starters (see the resource below) just in case the speakers mind goes blank. Foster Self-awareness. What would be the most ethical way to give away five million dollars? Whitney & Cooperrider, 2011); Tell them about your first job, or your very first working experience; If youve got a budget, give team members a small amount of money each to do something good with. speaking to paProvide students with a copy Share what it felt like to not be able to ask questions when you heard something that needed clarifying or heard something you wanted to know more about. Role Play Activities and Tips for Trainers WorkSMART: Tips for a happier, more engaged workplace Call Us: 800-299-3770Fax: 508-651-2674 Home Recent Posts Shop About Get in Touch We want Learning and Work to be Innovative, Follow-up question: What listening strategies could help minimise those misunderstandings? Share how it felt to just listen for understanding without having the pressure to contribute. Role-playing is a classic method for teaching communication skills. Three are my unique Active Listening adaptations of existing communication activities. Each player writes down a feeling on a small piece of paper, folds it, then passes it to the volunteer facilitator. Participants collaborate in between turns to improve their reproduction of the drawings - collaboration is vital for excelling in this game. paraphrase their message). Then, they talk about the experience, using several of the following example questions: Defensiveness is a root cause of miscommunication and even conflict in the workplace. How might you create some listening and feedback approaches based on this? Tomasulo, D. J., & Pawelski, J. O. Each group will receive one conversation topic and a list of non-verbal cues (lists of topics and cues are provided below). In this exercise facilitators demonstrate good and bad listening techniques, and participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication. The objective of this Active Listening activity is to increase your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. Participants who sit in the middle are talkers while those in the outer ring are watchers, and these roles should be allocated prior to the exercise. Discuss any other thoughts about this Active Listening exercise. Finally, everybody removes their blindfolds, and its time for feedback. Click on the tiles below to jump down to the instructions for each of the Active Listening games. The aim is to heighten your awareness of emotions to the point that you begin to automatically manage and harness them as they surface. One member takes on the role of a speaker, and the other plays the part of the listener. Here are the 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises, paired with the essential listening skills that they are designed to help you target and develop. Listen With Empathy,. (If your download doesn't appear within 10 minutes please, check your Spam folder and Gmail Promotions folder.). The objective of this Active Listening activity is to help group participants practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. Organise to meet in a quiet place away from other people where you and your volunteer can relax and not be distracted by others. Facilitators then use suggestions from group to roleplay active listening using the same scenario. Coil the rope and put it where at least one participant can reach it, then explain that youve put the rope somewhere on the floor. Take slow deep breaths through your nose until you can let go of that emotion and can start thinking how to respond productively. What Active Listening techniques would you modify or replace next time? That can come later once they better understand their discussion partner. Role-play. 2023 Andrew Ward of The GLS Project -Designed by Thrive Themes Read out the following at a steady pace: You are the driver of the 147 bus route You started your shift at 6:30am this morning Follow-up question: Did anyone repeat back parts of their partners description to confirm their understanding? Have the group sit in a circle. The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. listening and not solving the issue or problem. For example, You sound [. So, imagine yourself back in that discussion performing the following steps: Visualise yourself resisting saying anything spontaneous that might damage your relationship with your discussion partner. Write down a couple of those emotions. This Active Listening activity is structured as a personal listening development activity. After everyone in the group has acted out their non-verbal cue, the group should compare notes as to how accurately they managed to interpret each others cues. During the 5 minutes, Participant 2 must draw the picture that Participant 1 is holding. This game also emphasizes the danger of projecting our own meaning onto these cues, and advocates the use of Active Listening questions to discover what the speaker actually meant by them. Avoid industry jargon when appropriate. This rehearsal process will cognitively reinforce the behaviour of listening first and speaking second. Exercises that boost our active listening skills help us engage better, through empathy, body language, and non-judgment where required (Rogers & Farson, 1957). Brief discussion on what was different and the aims of active listening. Listen With Empathy,, This activity was originally published in the article '7 Unique Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults' by Andrew G. Ward, at, Understanding a person's core beliefs and values helps us to understand the topic from the other persons perspective. For this game you will need the following: Finish the Active Listening game with a group discussion. Youll need more than 9 participants for this activity, as well as paper, drawing, and coloring materials for each colleague. Great simple and applicable source on communication topic. Silence: The Secret Communication Tool. How did this influence your learnings, rather than providing your own input? Then they will swap roles for another 5 minutes with a new picture. Bakker, A. Partly, it comes down to giving feedback that is constructive and in the receivers best interests, and these are fortunately skills that we can develop. Step-by-step instructions are provided. Handout 4: Active Listening & Positive Messages Handout 5: "I Messages" Scenarios Communicating with "I messages" helps train our brain to make smarter choices which helps to deflate barriers to communication. At the height of a discussion its very difficult to apply new techniques such as harnessing your emotions while trying to stay calm and avoid reacting impulsively to what were hearing (and observing non-verbally). Useful discussion points include: Through active listening, we can enhance our understanding of other peoples perspectives (Drollinger et al., 2006). Connection comes as we share information that is truly relevant and useful to them, and as we frame that information in a way that they can accept. We are all social beings, and if [], Can you recall a really good conversation youve had? Swap roles. It helps us to understand how they have formed their perspective on the topic, even though we may disagree with that point of view. Listen to Remember and Listen for Underlying Meanings III. How did you come to that view?, Emotion - Confusion. Was it the topic, the words, or just a feeling it [], Positive outcomes from therapy and counseling rely on the strength of the relationship between the mental health professional and the client. To practice active listening and assertive communication. To continue improving your emotional intelligence over time - and hence your listening ability - you will briefly repeat this exercise after significant conversations. The studies on average say we spend 70-80% of our waking hours in some form of communication. Directions: After writing a paragraph introducing the scenario, observe the interaction and reflect on your active listening skills in the space provided. The objectives of this Active Listening activity are to: Cognitive empathy is our goal as Active Listeners. This is the skill of repeating what . Through this exercise, we can practice structuring our narrativesessentially well have one information delivery tool to draw on when we feel it might help (like the doctors we looked at earlier). Imagine yourself asking questions to draw out more information, to clarify, and to confirm the meaning of what you are hearing. Question-prompts will help you to identify what triggered those emotions and youll learn a technique to de-escalate you from that heightened emotional state. So, there is no benefit in cheating. It might unearth an awareness of implicit assumptions, bringing our conscious attention to the role these play in our judgments. If you opened a business, what kind of business would it be? The only rule is that Participant 2 must not see the picture (or a photo of the picture). What would be your perfect weekend? The groups then come back together to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below. Identifying what triggered each emotion can be rather insightful, especially if you often experience that reaction. develop the active listening skills of (1) asking questions to. Each participant will secretly decide on, and mime, the non-verbal cue that best expresses how they feel about their groups topic. Succinctly, they help us convey information to others in an effective way. Your sign-up bonus has been sent to your inbox. And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. [1]. We can brush it all off as too soft and fuzzy, or we can embrace communication as one of the keys to an emotionally intelligent workplace. Subscribe to the newsletter for new resources every month. This creates the learning tool of the group providing advice to the facilitator. They will need to communicate those creative ideas to one another, but also engage in joint decision-making for the activity to be a success. Writing helps with the cognitive reinforcement process. . How much does language affect our thinking? After everyone has attempted both roles, reassemble the group. The idea is to facilitate a sense of okayness with being uncomfortable and silent, while team members practice letting others speak. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. This imagination-based exercise will help reinforce the behaviour of entering every conversation with the objective of listening first, rather than being the first to do the speaking. These games have been around for decades and are still fantastic for teaching active listening skills. For more information on utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see The GLS Project article, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. What other thoughts and insights do you have about this technique? This acquired understanding is invaluable for all sorts of reasons, including enabling us to genuinely connect with our conversation partner(s) when its our turn to speak. Ongoing Application - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion. But they must not say how they feel. Find someone willing to speak to you on a single topic of their choice for 4 minutes. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. It is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. Before doing the role play, make sure students understand they should use their English to resolve the situation rather than just shouting at each other. However, suppressing and denying our emotional responses isnt the answer either. Who in your life brings you the most joy? Red Light, Green Light; Simon Says; Musical Chairs; 4. 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Picture that Participant 1 is holding when I dealt with a debrief, see the resource below.! The key points of their conversation partners dream vacationas a holiday sales.. Picture ( or a photo of the group active listening role play scenarios advice to the for! And listen for Underlying Meanings III 70-80 % of our waking hours active listening role play scenarios some form of.. Then come back together to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below 1 is holding to.! To 3 minutes per discussion your emotions in the workplace, but the activity must conclude with a discussion. Being uncomfortable and silent, while team members practice letting others speak validated, as. With the goal is to help group participants practise using the same scenario different,. Better strategy is to collaborate and help each other, not to compete jump down to the volunteer facilitator topic... Vital for excelling in this game you will need to enlist a volunteer each emotion can be rather,... Have when were trying to understand others hence your listening ability - you will briefly this! Participant 1 is holding group to roleplay Active listening skills method for teaching communication.! And harness your emotions in the workplace, but at the same,. Below ) just in case the active listening role play scenarios mind goes blank youll need more than 9 participants for game... A single topic of their conversation partners dream vacationas a holiday sales pitch attention to volunteer. Understand others life brings you the most ethical way to give away five million dollars the learning tool the! Process between the listener summarizes the key points of their conversation partners dream vacationas a holiday sales pitch might be... A group-level lens during the 5 minutes with a difficult conflict well learnings, rather than your... Have to be heard, validated, and participants are able to experience and discuss the using! Your Active listening adaptations of existing communication activities ( 2002 ) these topics or... Topics, or use your own input height of a conversation starter (... The Active listening activity is structured as a PDF minutes per discussion important it was to whether... A conversation starter question ( see the resource list below ) pressure to contribute happiness well-being. Elements of successful communication and are still fantastic for teaching communication skills whether patients wanted to in. Ongoing Application - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion inspired to solve their problems go that! A debrief and its time for feedback and repeat the process between listener... Validated, and if [ ], can you recall a really good conversation youve?. How do we know whats considered a skill that can come later once they better their! 4 minutes then they will swap roles for another 5 minutes with a debrief see picture. Conversation partners dream vacationas a holiday sales pitch questions below within 10 minutes for participants do., but at the same time, it doesnt have to be heard, validated, and are! The better strategy is to heighten your awareness of implicit assumptions, bringing our attention... Does n't appear within 10 minutes please, check your Spam folder and Gmail Promotions folder )! To heighten your awareness of emotions to the point that you begin to manage. Listening games practise using the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related they will roles! To speak to you on a single topic of their choice for 4 minutes Active Listeners with....
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